March: A month of lovely

I can't believe a whole month has passed since my first 'a month of lovely' post! It's been really great to see some of your join in over on Instagram - thank you! Feel free to join in on your blogs too if you fancy going into more detail about what's been making your life lovely recently.

You can post anytime you like on IG with #amonthoflovely, it doesn't have to be monthly, and it can be anything from the littlest moments that have made you smile to big life changing events. I'm honestly finding it's really helping me to focus on the good in the every day, rather than worrying too much about the not so great things.

So here goes with my month of lovely....

First sandals of the year - For Mother's Day my gift was this gorgeous pair of Rose Gold Saltwater Sandals. I've been lusting over these since last summer, so I cannot wait to start wearing them. So far they've only travelled into our back garden - I don't wait to get them scuffed or dirty yet - they are too pretty! They also come in kids sizes, so Ruby might just be getting a pair of matching ones for her birthday!

New work plans - This month sees some changes for me career wise. After 15 months of being a part time content director for an interiors brand, I am now officially back to being a freelancer. Even though I freelanced for a few years before that job came up, it's still slightly unsettling, perhaps because of our new house and how much we are putting into that financially. BUT, despite all that I am feeling positive and optimistic that some exciting projects and work will come up soon. If you happen to be interested in working with me you can read more about what I can offer here.

House renovation progress - you may have seen my recent posts on both our downstairs loo makeover and my home office transformation? Well, we are cracking on with other areas of the house, including the living room, where we have just had a beautiful parquet floor laid, and those gorgeous Bert and May tiles in the pic above have been added to the two fireplaces in the room. You can get a little peek of how they look together on my Instagram. There's still a bit more to do in the room - painting, shelving and a bit of styling, so I'll be sure to share it on here soon. I'm loving browsing online and catalogue's like this Nordic House one that arrived today, in search of bits and bobs for the room!

Spring flowers - Spring is definitely my favourite time of the year - I love watching everything outdoors turn from bare and drab to blooming and colourful! The flowers that are in season at this time of the year are firm favourites of mine - hyacinths, ranunculus, anemones, tulips and grape hyacinths to name a few. It's our first spring in the new house, and it's really interesting to see what is popping up in our garden, and also plant a few new things. We've got a red camellia in flower, lots of daffodils and what looks like a few peony plants coming up. I've been planting some ranunculus and anemone bulbs and scattering some wildflower seed which fingers crossed with appear in the summer.

Styling and shooting - I've been trying to do more shooting for the blog, and this week I've also been working on some images for an exciting collaboration we've just announced with 91 Magazine. I used the little succulent in a few shots I styled of the gorgeous Karolin Schnoor prints that she designed exclusively for 91, and that we are selling alongside the magazine. It's definitely true that the more you use your camera and practice your styling skills the better you get, so if you've been holding back and are lacking in confidence, whether it's for your blog or for Instagram, I'd say just pick up your camera and get cracking! My favourite IG editing app is Colour Story - I use it for pretty much every image I post.

I'd love to hear about the things that have brought you joy over recent weeks, do share your pics on Instagram with the tag #amonthoflovely and if you do write a blog post, tag me on your social posts about - @patchworkhrmy - I'd love to have a read. x